USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III > Part 104
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105
On the 28th of August, 1907, Dr. Moray was married to Miss Flora S. Menish, who was born on the south side of Milwaukee and who now belongs to the South Milwaukee Women's Club. The Doctor is a Mason, also an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias and in the Odd Fellows lodge he is a past grand. He is loyal to the teachings and purposes of these organizations, while in his practice he holds to the highest profes- sional standards and the most advanced ethics.
CHRISTIAN SCHROEDER.
Christian Schroeder, who was actively engaged in the insurance and mortgage loan business in Milwaukee for a period covering three decades and was long numbered among the most substantial and highly esteemed residents of the city, was called to his final rest on the 20th of January. 1915, when in the seventy-fourth year of his age. . A native of Stettin, Germany, he was born July 12, 1841, and obtained his education in the public schools of that place. After crossing the Atlantic to the United States he became identified with the packing industry in Milwaukee as an employe and sub- sequently established a retail meat market on his own account at No. 163 Huron street, which he conducted successfully for a number of years. In 1885, in association with his sons, William and Edward, he turned his attention to the real estate, insurance and loan business, with which he was continuously identified to the time of his demise. Upon the death of his son, William, in 1900, Edward Schroeder withdrew from the firm in order to embark in the same line of business on his own account and has since been very successful as an independent operator. Christian Schroeder was then joined by his youngest son, Walter, under the firm style of the Chris Schroeder & Son Com- pany, by which name the enterprise is still known. He remained active in its control
879
IHISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
and management to the time of liis demise, enjoying an enviable reputation as a man of sound business judgment, keen sagacity and unassailable integrity.
On the 19th of December, 1865, in Milwaukee, Mr. Schroeder was united in mar- riage to Miss Amalia Gleisberg, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Gleisberg. They became the parents of nine children, namely: Frank, who wedded Miss Ida Schultz and who is now deceased; Edward, who married Miss Josephine Uhrig; Amalia, Arthur, Anna and William, all of whom have passed away; and Walter, Ella and Amanda, who make their home with their mother. Mr. Schroeder was a popular member of the West Side Old Settlers Club and fraternally was identified with Teutonia Lodge No. 57 of the Milwaukee Encampment of Odd Fellows. His religious faith was indicated by his mem- bership in the Grace Lutheran church. It has been said that he was one of the most popular and beloved men in Milwaukee, so that his death was the occasion of deep and widespread regret and his memory will long be cherished by those with whom he was associated in the varied relations of life.
WILLIAM H. PIPKORN.
William H, Pipkorn, who has been actively engaged in business as a dealer in builders' supplies in Milwaukee for more than a quarter of a century, is the president and treasurer of the William H. Pipkorn Company, which was incorporated under the present firm style in 1905. He is a representative of one of the well known and hon- ored old families of Milwaukee county, his birth having occurred in the city of Mil- waukee on the 25th of March, 1871. His parents were August G. and Wilhelmina F. ( Tesch) Pipkorn, the former born September 30, 1835, and the latter on the 7th of April, 1843. Both spent their entire lives in Milwaukee county and the original farm of the family is still retained by the present generation. August G. Pipkorn took an active interest in political and civic affairs and was recognized as a leader among the agriculturists of his community. To him and his wife were born nine children, three sons and six daughters.
William H. Pipkorn, who was the fifth in order of birth in the family, obtained his early education in the rural schools and afterward attended St. Francis Seminary, while subsequently he pursued a commercial course in the Northwestern University at Watertown, Wisconsin. After putting aside his textbooks he secured a clerical posi- tion with the Milwaukee Falls Lime Company of Milwaukee, with which he was con- nected for three years. In 1895, however, desiring to more directly benefit by his labors, he embarked in business on his own account as a dealer in builders' supplies, conduct- ing his interests under the name of Pipkorn & Company. The enterprise was thus carried on until 1905, when it was incorporated as the William H. Pipkorn Company, with Mr. Pipkorn as president and treasurer. They have since developed an extensive and gratifying trade as wholesale and retail dealers in building material and are also engaged in the manufacture of plaster on a large scale. Mr. Pipkorn likewise extended his efforts into other fields of business activity, being a director of the West Lumber Company and the Wisconsin Mutual Liability Company and identified with various allied companies such as the Petoskey Transportation Company and the Petoskey Port- land Cement Company. Unfaltering enterprise, sound judgment and keen discrimina- tion have been the salient features in his continued success and have carried him steadily forward to a prominent position among the representative and prosperous busi- ness men of his native city.
On the 25th of November, 1897, Mr. Pipkorn was united in marriage to Miss Lis- sette Meyer, a daughter of Henry Meyer, a prominent citizen of Cedar Brook, Wisconsin. They have no children of their own hut have adopted four among their relationship whose parents are deceased. These are Irene, Stella, Lucille and Harriett, all of whom are public school students. The family residence is at No. 2706 Allen boulevard and they also maintain a summer home at Pewaukee Lake. Mrs. Pipkorn is president of the Parent Teachers Association of the Twenty-seventh Street school and has taken an active and helpful interest in a number of charitable organizations.
Politically Mr. Pipkorn is a stalwart republican and an active worker in the local ranks of the party, never withholding his support from any project or plan for civic advancement. During the period of the World war he was assistant food administrator for Milwaukee county and also acted as chairman of the committee for the Builders Association in connection with all war drives. He was given a certificate for patriotic service. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, being a charter member of Galilee Commandery, K. T., and also belonging to Wisconsin Consistory and to Tripoli Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is now serving for the second term of three years as a director of the Association of Commerce and is a popular member of the Wisconsin Club, the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Izaak Walton Club, the Washington Park Zoo- logical Association, the Wisconsin State Automobile Association, the South Side Civic
880
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Association, the Rotary Club and the Builders and Traders Exchange. He is also chair- man of the County Agricultural School Booster Club and chairman of the camp com- mittee of the Boy Scouts, being in charge of Silver Lake Camp, in which connection his services have been most enthusiastically and zealously performed and highly appre- ciated. His religious faith is that of the Congregational church, the teachings of which he exemplifies in his daily life. His chief sources of recreation are found in hunting, fishing and the cultivation of flowers. In the business circles of the city in which his entire life has been spent he enjoys an enviable reputation as a self-made man, while in social relations he has won the friendship and regard of all who know him.
ARTHUR O. SMITH.
In the annals of Milwaukee the name of Arthur O. Smith deserves a distinctive place as the founder of her most important and extensive industrial enterprise, for it was in 1904 that he organized the A. O. Smith Company, which is today the largest plant in the world devoted to the production of automobile pressed steel frames. He was fifty-four years of age when called to his final rest on the 5th of June, 1913, his birth having occurred at North Prairie, Waukesha county, Wisconsin, February 23, 1859. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. Charles J. Smith, who reared a family of eight children, as follows: Arthur O., of this review; Alonzo, who is deceased; Charles S., vice president of the A. O. Smith Corporation; George H., who has also passed away and who was the founder of the George H. Smith Steel Casting Company; Martha; Florence; Mrs. Sarah D. Davies; and Mrs. L. G. Bristol.
Arthur O. Smith began his business career as a construction contractor, operating principally in Chicago and in Kansas City and erecting some of the large office and municipal structures in both of these cities. In the year 1896 he returned to Mil- waukee to become associated with his father, Charles J., and his brother, Charles S., in the C. J. Smith & Sons Company, which during the last quarter of the nineteenth century was a leading manufacturing institution of this city, engaged in the mann- facture of baby carriage hardware and bicycle parts. This was the parent company out of which developed the A. O. Smith Company, organized by Arthur O. Smith in 1904. It was several years previous to this time that Mr. Smith, then general manager of the Federal Manufacturing Company, the immediate predecessor of the C. J. Smith & Sons Company, began the manufacture of automobile parts. The achievements of Mr. Smith during this early period of the automobile industry are associated with the inception and start in this industry of several of the pioneer companies that now enjoy inter- national repute. Among these is the Studebaker Automobile Company, which made its entry into the automobile industry with an electric, using a tubular frame in the chassis which was made under the direction of Mr. Smith. Then followed the Peerless Motor Car Company of Cleveland, using a pressed steel frame and a pressed steel rear axle honsing. These and other successes attracted the attention of Henry Ford of Detroit and resulted in the placing here of a contract for ten thousand frames and axle housings for the first of the small Fords now recognized as the universal car of the world. The big outstanding achievement of Mr. Smith at this time was the pro- duction of the first pressed steel frames made in this country. The early automobiles produced in America were mounted on tubular frames, as were the first Studebaker electrics, or on frames made of commercial channel or angle iron. it was realized, however, that frames of the construction then used were not suitable for automobiles, and it remained for Mr. Smith to design a press made here by the Allis-Chalmers Com- pany and which was used in the production of these first pressed steel frames. The many advantages of the pressed steel frame were immediately recognized, and today this construction is almost universally used not only in American passenger cars and trucks but also in those of European make.
The phenomenal growth and development of the A. O. Smith Corporation, suc- cessors to the A. O. Smith Company, began with the erection of the first units of the present plant located at Twenty-seventh street and Keefe avenue. The plant has grown until today it is the largest in the world devoted to the production of automobile pressed steel frames, in addition to which the company also makes pressed steel rear axle housings and other heavy pressed steel parts. The floor space of the different buildings is in excess of one million square feet on a tract of approximately sixty acres. All of the buildings are of steel, brick, glass and tile construction and are strictly fire- proof, while the advantages in the way of proper light, ventilation and temperature are supplemented by the beautiful setting in a park among spacious lawns and shrub- bery. The corporation has eighteen hundred employes and more than ninety-five per cent of its business is done outside of Wisconsin. It occupies a position of leadership among the largest and most important productive industries of Milwaukee, specializing in pressed steel frames for automobile passenger cars and trucks in addition to the manufacture of heavy pressed steel parts. Arthur O. Smith remained the presiding
881
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
genius of this mammoth concern until death ended his labors and Milwaukee lost one of its leading manufacturers and foremost citizens.
In his family were three children: Leroy Raymond, now president of the A. O. Smith Corporation; Gertrude, who is the wife of Lester A. Slocum; and Alma, who is now Mrs. Charles W. Wright. Leroy R. Smith, who has been the president and gen- eral manager of the A. O. Smith Corporation since his father's demise, began his appren- ticeship under his father in 1905 and under the latter's able direction became thoroughly familiar with every phase of the business, so that he was well qualified to take up the duties and responsibilities of executive control. The continued growth and expansion of the industry under his guidance stands in incontrovertihle evidence of his splendid business ability, keen discernment and undaunted energy.
WILLIAM F. WEGGE, M. D.
Dr. William F. Wegge, physician and surgeon of Milwaukee with offices in the Security building on Grand avenue, was born at Waterford, Wisconsin, May 14, 1863. and is a son of Frederick and Mary Wegge, both of whom were natives of Germany and have now departed this life.
Dr. Wegge obtained his early education in the public schools of his native town and also attended the Rochester ( Wis.) Academy, while later he became a student in the University of Maryland, there pursuing his professional course until graduated with the M. D. degree as a member of the class of 1886. He afterward spent one year as an interne and later practiced at Waterford, Wisconsin, for a time. He spent a year and a half in Europe, giving his attention to further study abroad from 1886 until 1SS8. In the latter year he became assistant physician at the Northern Hospital for the Insane, and in 1891 was appointed to the superintendency of that institution, filling the position until 1894. He then again went to Europe and for one year was a student in Berlin. Again coming to the new world he practiced in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, from 1895 until 1898. when he came to Milwaukee, where he has since continued, save for the year 1913, when he went abroad for further research work, being in Hamburg, Germany. He thus kept in touch with the advanced thoughit and methods of the medical fraternity in the old world, and he has throughout his entire career been a close student of the science of medicine, acquainted with the latest investigation and researches and the valuable truth thereby brought to light. He belongs to the American Medical Association, to the Wisconsin State Medical Society and to the Milwaukee County Medical Society. He is vice president of the Neuro-Psychiatric Society and to a considerable extent has practiced along the line of neuropathic work.
In 1889 Dr. Wegge was united in marriage to Miss Rose Malone, and they have one son, Dr. William E. Wegge, who is also a physician, now associated with his father. He is a graduate of Rush Medical College of Chicago of the class of 1918.
Dr. and Mrs. Wegge are members of the Roman Catholic church. The major part of his time and attention, however, is given to his professional interests, which are important and are constantly increasing in extent as well. He is today professor of clinical neurology in the medical school of Marquette University and attends to this branch of educational work in addition to the demands of a large private practice.
WALTER J. BERGER.
Walter J. Berger is a representative of the third generation of the Berger family to be actively engaged in the manufacture of bedding, the scope of the business today also including furniture and rugs and the conduct of a retail establishment as well. Mr. Berger was born in this city September 22, 1891, his parents being William and Mathilda ( Wagner) Berger, who are mentioned at length on another page of this work. At the usual age he entered the public schools, pursuing his studies in the Humboldt school on Fourth and Galena streets until graduated with the class of 1906. He then entered the East Division high school, which he attended until 1910 and completed a general science course. Following his high school graduation he matriculated in the University of Wisconsin, pursuing a four years' course there and winning the Bachelor of Arts degree on the completion of a commerce course. During his college days he became a member of the Alpha Tau Omega.
In September, 1914, Walter J. Berger joined his father in the firm of William Berger & Company, remaining his active assistant in the business until after America's entrance into the World war, when he joined the United States army on the 29th of December, 1917, serving until the 5th of December, 1918. He was stationed at Cham- paign, Illinois, at Camp Dick. Dallas, Texas, and on the Southern Flying Field at Americus, Georgia, and having completed his training as an aeroplane pilot he was Vol. III-56
882
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
commissioned a second lieutenant with reserve military aviator rating, in December, 1918.
On the 20th of September, 1918, at Dallas, Texas, Mr. Berger was united in mar- riage to Miss Frieda H. Schreiber of Milwaukee, and they have become parents of two daughters: Helene Marie, born August 22, 1919; and Barbara Ann, born October 13, 1921.
With his return from the army Walter J. Berger resumed active connection with his father's business and was thus associated until the father's death on the 25th of February, 1922, when Walter J. Berger became the owner and head of the company. He is thus active in control of a large and important manufacturing enterprise at Milwaukee, an extensive six-story plant being devoted to the manufacture of furniture. bedding and rugs, while a large retail establishment introduces the product to the local market. Many years have passed since the name of Berger first became associated with bedding manufacture in this city and the enterprise established by his grandfather and carried on by his father, is now being continved by him with the same qualities of thor- cughness, reliability and progressiveness which have ever characterized the business.
A. O. SMITH COMPANY.
The A. O. Smith Company, manufacturers of automobile parts, controls one of the largest and most important productive industries of Milwaukee. The business has been a gradual development of an enterprise that had back of it men of capability and determination-men who studied the trend of the times and took advantage of the opportunities offered. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century the C. J. Smith & Sons Company was a leading manufacturing concern of the city, engaged in the manufacture of baby carriage hardware and hicycle parts. The latter line was added to their business a year or two before the company began the building of their Park Street plant in 1894. The sale of the bicycle parts increased steadily and rapidly and resulted in the erection of a new plant on Clinton street in 1896. At the head of the enterprise was C. J. Smith, then a venerable business man of the city, and with him were associated his two sons, Charles S. and George H. In 1895, however, the latter withdrew in order to organize the George H. Smith Steel Casting Company and his interest was turned over to another brother, Arthur O., who had previously devoted his attention to construction contracting, being known among the large builders of Kansas City and Chicago.
One of the features of the continued growth and expansion of the business has been the fidelity of old employes-a fidelity prompted by the liberal policy of the com- pany. The oldest of the employes is Henry Miller, who began work on the 24th of March, 1887. Many of the now prominent business men of Milwaukee received their training with this firm and have proven the worth of their instruction in the experi- ences of their later years.
Following the introduction of bicycle parts manufacturing, that branch of the business grew to such extent and with such rapidity that it was not long before the C. J. Smith & Sons Company was recognized as the largest manufacturer of bicycle parts in the world. They still continued the other branch of their business, but it was small in comparison. In the organization of the American Bicycle Company, in 1899, the plant and business of the C. J. Smith & Sons Company was taken over, at which time C. J. and C. S. Smith left the organization, but A. O. Smith continued as general manager of the Smith Stampings Factory of the American Bicycle Company.
In the meantime Mr. Smith was a close student of the trend of the times and in 1906, recognizing the possibilities of the automobile industry, organized the present A. O. Smith Company and purchased the plant and business of the Federal Manufac- turing Company, which had been the outgrowth of an enterprise known as the Auto- mobile & Cycle Parts Company, a branch of the parent concern, the American Bicycle Company. During the year which followed the organization of the A. O. Smith Com- pany, L. R. Smith joined the company to serve an apprenticeship under his father. The corporation had made its start in the automobile industry in 1903 by producing two hundred sets of tubular frames, axles and other parts for Studebaker electrics and subsequently received a contract for frames and axle housings from the Peerless Motor Car Company of Cleveland. Their next contract was obtained from the Pope Manu- facturing Company of Toledo, calling for the long-legged frames. At the beginning the output was four or five frames per day. Something of the growth of the business is indicated in the fact that the daily production now amounts to from ten to twelve hundred frames. The officers felt that the business was showing a satisfactory growth when they were making twenty and afterward forty frames per day. Their first big contract came from the Ford Manufacturing Company of Detroit for ten thousand frames and axle housings, which were turned out in record time.
It was soon realized that the old plant, built for light manufacturing, was not
883
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
suited to the heavier automobile parts and after thorough study and investigation the company selected its present site and began the erection of a plant which has reached its fulfillment in the present great establishment of today.
The company has always displayed a most progressive spirit. In the days of the early development of the business there was little call on the part of the state for safety devices and comparatively little thought along safety lines. Notwithstanding this, their huildings were equipped with fire escapes and fireproof stairways, brick enclosed, with metal doors automatically closing. Moreover, fire-walls separated the different buildings and afterward an overhead sprinkling system was installed, with reels of fire hose placed in convenient locations. Elevators, tco, were equipped with automatic gates and the power transmission of the rope type was installed instead of belts. The floor openings were guarded with boxes six feet in height and the fly wheel of the electric generating engine was enclosed within a railing. Today the plant is equipped with every safety device of the most modern character. One of the strong features in the success of the business is its "safety" policy and in this connection the company issues a Shop Safety Bulletin, instructing the men how to prevent accidents.
In the meantime the development of the business has been continuous, its output increasing year by year. From the beginning the work has been most carefully sys- tematized and each department has been kept at a maximum standard. When America entered the World war the company manufactured aerial bombs for the army and navy to the number of three thousand per day. The splendid equipment of the plant made this work possible and the results achieved were most satisfactory and helpful to the government.
The corporation has ever encouraged healthful sports and recreation for its employes. There are well organized tennis and bowling teams and shop sports of all kinds. The philosopher Emerson once said, "An institution is but the lengthened shadow of a man." A corporation, therefore, is but the expression of concerted effort on the part of several individuals. The A. O. Smith Company with its mammoth plant, one of the great productive industries of the Mississippi valley, is the outgrowth of the deter- mination, perseverance and diligence of a few men who have carefully formulated plans and promptly executed them. It has furnished employment to thousands of employes, contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the support of Milwaukee's population and has been a most potent factor in making this city a great industrial center, with its trade relations reaching out to all parts of the world.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.